Fundamentals of Core Exercises

November 10, 2015 by Rachael Lowe
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core exercises for runningQuality of core exercises are key.  Unless we are doing them correctly we are not going to get the full benefits and reach our full potential.  We have talked about the importance of core previously and we always have a core section in each of our BeFitApps programmes.  Core exercises are a fundamental part of your training what ever your sport.

So when we are doing core conditioning exercises it is very important to do them correctly.  If they are not performed correctly we will not get 100% of the potential gains and may be at risk of injury.  We must consider body position during the exercises, pay attention to our breathing patterns and keep a look out for the mistakes that we might make.

The Neutral Position

This is the position of good posture to move from, to reach your full athletic potential.  It’s the middle position between fully arching and fully rounding your lumbar spine.  In the neutral position you have a solid connection between your upper and lower body and you need to be able to maintain this as you move your arms and legs.  A strong core gives us good control through the full movements of upper and lower limbs.  This neutral position is the one we must maintain through each exercise, if we lose control of this position we will lose control of the upper or limb movements and potentially be at risk of injury.  Keep that neutral position!

Breathe!

Remember to breathe!  When you are moving through the exercises you should be able to continue to talk.  As soon as you start holding your breath you start to rely on the breath hold instead of the core contraction in order to move. This negates the idea of what core control is. You should be relaxed and be able to talk all the way through your core exercises.

Core Mistakes

  1. Don’t arch or round your back
  2. Don’t rotate at the hips
  3. Don’t stop breathing
  4. Don’t lose quality of movement

In this video Neil demonstrates how to find the neutral position of the lumbar spine that should be maintained in core conditioning exercises and demonstrates some of the mistakes that we make:

CoreFit fundamentals

Rachael Lowe
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